INSPECTION. Personnel from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the local government of Tubungan, Iloilo conduct an ocular inspection at a landslide area on Saturday (Nov. 9, 2019). The OCD advised the public to be on alert, especially on landslide-prone areas identified by the latest report of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau. (Photo courtesy of OCD 6)
ILOILO CITY -- Antique province has the most number of villages prone to landslide in Western Visayas, the latest report of the Department of Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) said.
Out of the 4,617 villages in the region, the report released in September this year showed that 467 landslide-prone villages are located in Antique.
The Office of the Civil Defense in Western Visayas (OCD 6), through its regional director Jose Roberto Nuñez, has confirmed the information in a media interview on Tuesday.
The landslide-prone areas in Antique province are located in the towns of San Remegio, Anini-y, Barbaza, Belison, Bugasong, Culasi, Hamtic, Lau-an, Libertad, Patnongon, San Jose, Sebaste, Sibalom, Tibiao, Tobias Fornier, and Valderrama.
Nuñez assured that OCD is continuously monitoring the identified landslide-prone areas.
“We are ready 24/7. They (municipal disaster risk reduction and management councils) release situation report from time to time,” he said.
Iloilo province, meanwhile, has 72 villages identified to be prone to landslides. These villages are located in the towns of Miag-ao and San Joaquin.
A total of 16 villages in Negros Occidental, particularly in Cauayan and Hinoba-an towns and Sipalay City, are also landslide-prone while four villages in Buruanga town, Aklan province were also identified as the same.
Nuñez said the OCD 6 does not necessarily advise the residents in these areas to evacuate “because some of it was minimal and there are no evacuation centers.”
However, he said the disaster officers and the residents in the area have to always remain alert, especially during rainy days.
“I told them that when the rain is hard, they automatically evacuate the residents in the negative sides of the MGB,” he said.
He reported that a landslide has occurred in Bacan village, Tubungan town, Iloilo on Nov. 7, following strong rains.
There was no casualty as the preemptive evacuation was immediately undertaken.
On Nov. 9, Nuñez led the inspection on the area together with Tubungan Mayor Roquito Tacsagon and municipal disaster risk reduction and management office personnel. (PNA)
